This program is generously supported by The Spem in Alium Fund
In this pilot year of the program, The Toronto Consort is thrilled to announce Martin Gomes as our 2023-2024 Inaugural Consort Scholar. An artist whom we are delighted to be working with this season, Martin is the perfect first person to join us for the program.
“I’m unbelievably honoured to have been asked to take part in this Scholar program. I would like to thank Andrew Adridge as well as the Spem in Alium Fund for making this program possible. As an artist facilitator who is also very active in the choral scene, I’m excited to see a Scholarship program offer opportunities for mentorship and exposure to resources that I may not have had access to or knowledge about outside of this program.”
– Martin Gomes, Inaugural Consort Scholar. Learn more about Martin here.
The Consort Scholar Program is generously supported by the Spem in Alium Fund. We extend our heartfelt thanks for its leadership in bringing this valuable program to life.
About the Program
The Consort Scholar program seeks to provide 2 emerging early musicians each year the opportunity to train and perform in a high-quality professional environment, enriching their portfolio and deepening our commitment to sustaining our practice and connecting with our community. The program will provide these artists the opportunity to perform with the Consort, mentorship with an array of arts sector professionals, and cultivate a foundation for a budding artistic career through the development, consultation, and practical implementation of their craft.
The program will support artists who identify themselves as emerging. This will be determined by the quality of their responses to several questions surrounding their artistic practice and development up to this point in their careers. This is not defined by age or stage of institutional development as we hope to have as much impact as possible.
The scholar program will pay special attention to ing out members of several marginalized communities understanding that they have historically been left out of the conversation surrounding classical music’s growth and acclimatization in contemporary Canadian society.
Alignment with the focus area you have selected (if applicable)
The Scholar program will contribute to an underrecognized musical discipline as far as contemporary recognition is concerned. Early Music is niche, and classical music in general also occupies an increasingly niche place in society. This doesn’t mean that there is not a group of people of various age, ethnic, and cultural demographics who do not appreciate it, participate in it, and see it as a defining factor in their lives. This program not only provides that opportunity to an underserved demographic of artistic and contemporary society but also the chance for our art and our practice to understand its role in reflecting an ever-changing civic community.
Activities
Scholars will have the chance to involve themselves with the Consort in numerous ways
- Participation in regular Consort concerts and lead, ensemble, and apprentice/understudy members
- Curation of special intermission/pre-show performances and chats
- Invitation to special Consort events
- Audition opportunities with leading Early Music experts
- Masterclass/private lesson participation with Consort Members and world-renowned guests
- Career building and networking with various Early Music and Arts Sector professionals
- Leading of an individual outreach project promoting the individual’s craft
Intended Outcomes
- Artistic Development, 2 ways: This program will enrich the lives of two artists a year, artists who have committed their practice to a specific art form that provides very few professional development opportunities to emerging artists. Unlike opera or orchestra where development programs are long established, Early Music offers few chances for the sort of two-way interaction the mentorship offers. This program will give the Scholars performance opportunities, professional development, and career guidance while providing our Artistic Team members the chance to understand intergenerational commonalities and provide mentorship to the next generation of artists who will sustain the art form that they have devoted their lives to.
- Access to artistic development for marginalized folks: With our desire to prioritize those further marginalized by society this program has the chance to create new, sustainable pathways for Black and Indigenous folks, persons of colour, our 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and others historically underrepresented in classical music and marginalized by society.
- Organizational sustainability: Our art form is in dire need of reinvigoration and rejuvenation. We are seeing a new generation of Early Music singers, instrumentalists, and appreciators emerging from institutions across our country and we see no better place for them to grow and develop than within the walls of Canada’s longest-standing organization committed to the preservation and reinvention of Early Music
- Sectoral Resilience: Very few training programs exist for musicians exiting post-secondary studies and the gap between institution and real-world practice is one that greatly contributes to musicians searching out new pathways upon completion of their studies. This program allows us to see Early Music as sustainable in our contemporary society, launching the careers of folks who will be champions of Early Music years after our generation has left its imprint.
Admission Requirements
- The Consort Scholar program intake will be released every May with the application closing in mid-summer and results being released subsequently. There are no educational requirements, but applicants will be asked to provide examples of their musical ability through recordings and live audition. An applicant’s artistic CV will also be requested at the time of application and the professional experience will be considered as a part of the decision process. Auditions will take place either digitally or in person at The Toronto Consort.
For more information, or to speak with us about how to apply, support or promote this program, reach out to Andrew Adridge, Executive Director at andrew@torontoconsort.org.
